Andrew65

And then you're left with a power-vacuum. Look at Iraq after Saddam was deposed, or Libya after Gadaffi?

Mr Reagan was showing exactly the same cognitive decline as Joe at exactly the same time in his presidency, at the end of his first term. During the Trump V Hillary campaign someone suggested that there should be an upper age limit to run. Maybe 65?

Iran is 3 times bigger, and has 3 times the population of Iraq. War with Iran? Good luck with that!

In the UK they can't show someone who appears to be under 25 in an advert for alcohol. "Alcohol ads must not be directed at people under 18 or contain anything that is likely to appeal to them by reflecting youth culture. Any individuals that feature in alcohol ads must be 25 years of age or over, and look it."

Taking yer bird to Pattaya indicates a "Lack of judgement" Many years ago in Phnom Penh my tuk tuk driver advised me not to wear my 2 baht gold necklace. (Evetually sold back to where I bought it from).

Many single packets of ciggies were incinerated in a series of 20 separate burnings!?

In the UK they can show someone who appears to be under 25 in an advert for alcohol.

Probably does the same kind of thing where he comes from.

Where I lived in Bangkok Thais were regularly peeing in the Khlong, along a busy street. You knew where they did so because the bars alongside the Khlong were rusty from being pee'd on.

Too sweet to be curry?

I worked with very many Indians overseas for many years, always very laid-back & friendly people, never had a problem with any of them.

Looks like Sergeant Somchai is smiling or laughing

Depends what kind of country it is. American-style policing would probably work well in Latin America, Honduras, Brazil etc, but probably not in many European countries.

Maybe I just struck-lucky with my quick in & out? (About 7 years ago).

It might well be handled in a similar way in the UK, trying not to 'escalate'. Also, it looks like/seems obvious that he's not carrying any knives or firearms etc. I do actually understand why policing in the US has to be as it is though.

I once did a visa extension in about 15 minutes at Jomtien, brilliant. Chaeng Wattana in BKK however, you could be there for up to 2 hours some days.

We only have 'Gammon's' in Britain!? Not sure if that term is in use abroad?!

The UK has around 10 million foreign-born people living there. Does that mean that it has also been 'colonised'? I doubt that Thailand has anything like that number of falang (white people) living there? If there are many foreigners living in Thailand I suspect that most of them would be from neighbouring countries?

As both you, and an old Ozzie friend mentioned, Pattaya does tend to attract certain types, but also some good people.

He's probably one of those guy who turns into the world's biggest a-----e when he drinks.

What's the betting that loan-sharking was his 'business' back home?

I lived for 20 years in Thailand, and besides a year or 2 of company-related insurance, I never had health insurance. It was the luck of the draw that I never got seriously ill. I do have an pre-existing condition, which would make it more expensive. I believe that once we reach 70 years old premiums can become prohibitively expensive.

You don't need to be chatting anyone up. The thing with a gold necklace is that it's visible from quite a distance, and someone walking towards you just needs to snatch it from your neck, and run, in the bilnk of an eye, it would be gone before you realise what's happened!

This will please an old friend from Vancouver (he worked on the docks there). `In his younger years he was a bit 'wild', and he suspected that the police in the US might want him for a 'misdemeanour' there a long time ago. That meant that flying through Seattle wasn't on for him. He had often said that he wished that they had direct flights to Thailand.

When I worked in Africa, a few times I saw guys doing a kangaroo-impression on the side of the road